Country Singer Zac Brown and Wife Announce Split After 12 Years

Zac Brown and his wife Shelly are splitting after 12 years of marriage.

The country star and his jewelry designer wife announced the difficult decision to go their separate ways calling this “our next venture.”

“We feel blessed to be on such an incredible journey in life and sometimes the journey begins to lead in different directions. It is with deep love and respect that we announce we are separating as a couple,” they said in a joint statement to PEOPLE.

“We have led a whirlwind life together growing into a beautiful family with five amazing children and while life will be rearranging a bit, our love and commitment to our family will always be there,” they continued.

Reiterating they’re in a good place with each other, Zac and Shelly say, “we’ve done plenty of tough things together and this is our next venture — love, mutual respect, and care for each other are what we are moving forward with.”

Ending their statement, they ask fans “rather than commenting or spending any energy towards this, that you take this moment to send love to your family, in honor of ours.”